Re: [Marxism] Sony exec freed

[Greg Dunkel <gdunkel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Two points:

    -- unemployment in France increased by 7.8% in last quarter of 2008 and 
prospects for
2009 are grim.  Its economy is projected to contract, which means there will 
not be much hiring.

     -- Thursday, March 19 has been called a "day of action" & is supported by 
all the unions.  It is likely to be, shall we say, interesting, given what 
happened at a Sony plant in an isolated, mainly rural area of southwest France.

/greg

-----Original Message-----
>From: sabocat59@xxxxxxx
>Sent: Mar 15, 2009 5:13 AM
>To: gdunkel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Cc: branchmaillist@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [Marxism] Sony exec freed
>
>Irish Times
>Saturday, March 14, 2009
>
>Sony executives freed after 24-hour 'bossknapping'
>
>Workers at the Sony plant at Pontonx-sur-l'Adour hold up a banner which reads: 
>"Sony, some respect for your employees". 
>
>LARA MARLOWE in Paris
>
>WITH HIS bald pate, wire-rimmed glasses, grey suit and silk tie, Serge Foucher 
>looked the very picture of business management when his 24-hour imprisonment 
>at the hands of angry workers ended yesterday morning. âIâm happy to be 
>free and to see the light of day again,â said Mr Foucher, the chief 
>executive officer of Sony France. Mr Foucher, Sonyâs head of human 
>resources, and two local plant officials were held in a meeting room in a 
>videotape factory at Pontonx-sur-lâAdour, in the Landes region of southwest 
>France. The plantâs 311 employees were notified in December that they would 
>lose their jobs when the factory closes on April 17th. Mr Foucher dropped by 
>to say a last farewell on Thursday afternoon, and was detained by workers 
>objecting to the severance package theyâd been offered. They blocked access 
>to the plant with branches and tree trunks, and 20 gendarmes surrounded the 
>site. Patrick Hachaguer, the local representative of the CGT communist trade 
>union, said the atmosphere inside the plant was âgood-naturedâ, though the 
>Sony executives may have thought differently. âHe wonât listen to us. We 
>had no other solution,â Mr Hachaguer added. This latest incident of 
>âbossknappingâ ended at 10.30am when the Sony executives walked out of the 
>plant, accompanied by trade union representatives. Employees lined both sides 
>of the pathway, and watched the men leave in silence. The executives got into 
>a minivan and were driven to the sous-prÃfecture in nearby Dax, where 
>negotiations continued yesterday afternoon. âThe state will facilitate the 
>discussions,â said Ãtienne Guyot, the prefect of the Landes department. 
>When a Sony factory closed a year ago in Alsace, financial benefits were 50 
>per cent better, the workers said. âWeâre not asking the impossible, but 
>we demand to be treated the same as other Sony France employees when they were 
>fired,â Mr Hachaguer said. Le Figaro newspaper reported the Sony employees 
>are receiving â45,000 more than the legally required indemnities, and 
>between nine and 18 months paid leave to seek other employment. But Mr 
>Hachaguer said Sony offered one month of salary for each year worked, and 
>nothing extra for workers over age 55. âWe donât have much to lose because 
>weâve already lost our jobs,â he added. âSony France decided to give us 
>cut-rate compensation, when weâre in a much worse situation because of the 
>economic crisis.â âJob offers have shrunk down to nothing,â a Sony 
>employee named Philippe told France Info radio. âThereâs no work to be 
>found in the entire region. If I have to move, I will. Iâve lived here 24 
>years, and I never imagined the place would shut down.â âIf we move, we 
>get a bonus of â3,500,â Jean-Michel Cauna, who has worked in the plant for 
>19 years, told AFP. âIn Alsace, all costs were paid.â Chantal Omiciuolo 
>(50) said holding the executives hostage âwas our last chance. We didnât 
>have a choiceâ. The possibility of converting the plant to produce solar 
>panels was considered and abandoned. Union representatives opposed the 
>project, saying Sony did not consult them. Yesterday afternoon, Mr Hachaguer 
>said progress was being made on the treatment of older workers, longer leave 
>to seek new jobs and training for sacked employees. But he said negotiations 
>were still blocked on the basic amount of the severance package. The 
>unemployment agency UNEDIC announced this week that between 375,000 and 
>454,000 more French people will lose jobs this year, depending on whether the 
>economy shrinks 1.5 per cent or 1.8 per cent. The government is bracing for 
>nationwide strikes and demonstrations on March 19th. The incident at Sony 
>France may inspire others â especially if the âbossknappersâ are able to 
>negotiate better terms. Last year, an Englishman who was running a car parts 
>factory in eastern France was held for 48 hours by his employees. In a 
>separate incident, 14 people were injured when police stormed an ice cream 
>plant to free a manager who was taken hostage. 
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